Alexander Graham Bell
Pitches the Telephone

[The elevator doors open. ALEXANDER GRAHAM BELL walks out carrying two strange devices connected by a long copper wire. He has a full beard, kind eyes, and the slightly frazzled look of a man who has been yelling "Mr. Watson, come here" into a box for three months straight. A production assistant is holding the other end of the wire and looking confused.]

"When one door closes, another opens; but we often look so long and so regretfully upon the closed door that we do not see the one which has opened for us. Today, the open door is the Shark Tank. Please do not trip on the wire."

"Sharks. My name is Alexander Graham Bell. I am a scientist, inventor, and teacher of the deaf. I am asking for $300,000 for 5% of the Bell Telephone Company. And I am about to show you the most important invention since the printing press."

[He places one device on the Sharks' desk and carries the other to the far side of the studio, trailing wire behind him.]

"Imagine talking to someone in another city. Instantly. No letters. No telegrams. No waiting. Just your voice, carried across a wire, as clearly as if they were standing next to you."

[He speaks into his device from across the room:]

"Mr. O'Leary, come here. I want to see you."

[His voice crackles through the device on the desk. The Sharks jump. It is scratchy, distorted, and unmistakable. They just heard a human voice transmitted through a wire.]

[What follows is the longest negotiation in Shark Tank history. It takes three hours. Kevin wants 30%. Bell wants to give up 5%. They go back and forth. And back. And forth.]

Kevin: "25%."

Bell: "5%."

Kevin: "20%."

Bell: "6%."

Kevin: "18%."

Bell: "6%."

Kevin: "You didn't move!"

Bell: "I moved from 5 to 6. That's a 20% increase. You should be flattered."

[Two hours later.]

Kevin: "12%. Final offer."

Bell: "8%. Final offer."

Kevin: "10%."

Bell: "9%."

[They stare at each other. Mark Cuban has fallen asleep. Barbara is reading a magazine. Daymond ordered dinner.]

Kevin: "10%."

Bell: "...Fine. 10%. But I am putting it in writing. On paper. Because LETTERS still have their uses, Kevin."

[Kevin grins. He just secured 10% of what will become the most important communications company in history. He is so happy he could call someone. If only such a device existed. Oh wait.]

The Bell Telephone Company became AT&T, one of the largest companies in human history. Kevin's 10% stake would be worth approximately $150 billion at AT&T's peak valuation. He has called it "the best deal in the history of Shark Tank" 847 times. He used a telephone to make each of those calls.

The telephone patent (No. 174,465) is considered the most valuable patent ever issued. Bell filed it on February 14, 1876 — hours before a competing inventor named Elisha Gray filed a similar design. Valentine's Day timing. The irony is not lost.

Kevin's original objection — "I have letters" — has become one of the most famous quotes in Shark Tank history. It is used in business schools as an example of why investors should never dismiss transformative technology because existing solutions "work fine."

Daymond's prediction was correct. People DID use the telephone to yell at their mothers-in-law from 500 miles away. It was the killer app.

Bell's final words to the camera: "When one door closes, another opens. But sometimes you have to negotiate with the door for three hours first."